Michigan

Pistons' Mr. Big Shot delivers

AUBURN HILLS -- It was not one of Chauncey Billups' better shooting nights.

But the guy known as Mr. Big Shot delivered arguably the biggest shot of the night Monday, which seemed to turn a nail-biter into something that resembled a blowout as Detroit pulled away for a 94-75 win in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals to tie the best-of-seven series at two games apiece.

Game 5 will be in Boston on Wednesday followed by Game 6 back in Detroit on Friday.

Billups had 10 points on 3-for-12 shooting from the field. But his 3-pointer with 2:55 to play gave Detroit an 83-73 lead. That shot triggered a 14-2 run by Detroit to close out the game.

Pistons coach Flip Saunders was impressed with the shot. He was even more impressed by the pass, which came from Tayshaun Prince.

"Tay made a great play on that," Saunders said. "He could have shot it and (instead) made the extra pass. That's usually where Chauncey is at his best on those 3s, on those swing (passes)."

Theo Ratliff, like the rest of the Pistons, is aware Billups has struggled with his shot throughout this series.

But in a close game, with little time to play, Ratliff remains confident Billups will make the right play for Detroit.

"Down the stretch, he's always a threat to be able to hit big shots," Ratliff said. "He was able to hit a big shot at a key time for us."

As for Billups' shooting woes -- he is shooting 35.3 percent from the field in this series -- Ratliff said, "we're not worried about Chauncey. We know he's going to run the team, and do the things that he can do to help us win."

Tickets update

Tickets for Detroit's Game 6 matchup against Boston on Saturday are on sale now. They can be purchased at pistons.com or at TicketMaster outlets. For more ticket information, call (248) 377-0100.

Hayes sighting

Jarvis Hayes saw his first action of the Eastern Conference finals Monday. He finished with three points in just less than four minutes. Hayes, who was a major cog in Detroit's bench play during the season, has not played (coach's decision) in four playoff games this season. He is averaging 2.1 points per game in the playoffs, down from 6.7 points per game during the regular season.

Another record for Rip

Earlier in the playoffs, Richard Hamilton became Detroit's all-time leading scorer in playoff games. On Monday, he broke another team record by playing in his 114th playoff game, which surpassed Bill Laimbeer's record of 113.